What they're saying about Ray Rice's two-game suspension

July 24, 2014|By Jon Meoli | The Baltimore Sun

The Internet — that living, breathing mob of opinion that builds on itself and creates consensus in a matter of moments — was true to form Thursday morning, and didn't leave much nuance in relation to Ravens running back Ray Rice's two-game suspension.

Many believed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came down soft on Rice, relating it to drug suspensions of other players, and also called into question the league’s women’s health initiatives that it pushes each October.

Here’s a small representation of what they’re saying about Ray Rice’s two-game suspension:

And now ... two games? Commissioner Roger Goodell has issued longer suspensions for pot smoking, taking Adderall, DUI, illegal tattoos, dog-fighting and eating a protein bar that you thought on the NFL approved list.

Two games. It's a joke, and a bad one. Worse, it leaves the door open for people to think that Janay Rice bears a lot of the responsibility for eliciting the punch that knocked her out.

The NFL had an opportunity to send a clear and direct message about the consequences of domestic abuse. They could have looked past the PR campaign Rice and the Ravens are now putting on. They could have seen the press conference Rice and his now-wife participated in as the sham it was. …

Instead, they’re telling players that smoking a joint — which is legal in two states — is much worse than knocking out a woman.

But at some point, it's reasonable to ask that Goodell step outside the black-and-white league rules and approach his job with some semblance of a human element. The league's drug policy was put in place as part of the latest collective bargaining agreement, but Goodell has full authority on punishments for most other issues. Is taking Adderall really twice as egregious as knocking out your fiancée? Are multiple pot-related missteps worthy of a punishment 800 percent greater than what Rice is set to receive?

Anyone with common sense, even Ravens fans hoping to get Rice back on the field, should answer no in both cases.

The NFL doesn't have a domestic violence problem -- it has a "solution to domestic violence" problem, because its solution is "you will miss two early-season games and get fined." And apparently this isn't lenient enough!

Ray Rice is the flashpoint today, but this isn't so much about Ray Rice as it is the NFL's untenable position on punishments for violence. It's an upside down NFL world. Violence against women is acceptable, words or non-violent acts are often unacceptable. It's an infuriating and stupid and indefensible double standard, the exact opposite of what should happen. Violent acts should be punished infinitely more severely than non-violent acts or words.

This piece could go on forever, really. I’d advise you to do a Twitter search for Rice on your own to get a full picture. Rice has already been through the public wringer for his arrest and the subsequent press conference with his wife, so most of the vitriol is directed at Goodell. Who can blame them?